Cementerio del terror

This fairly unknown Mexican zombie movie may not be the most original horror film ever to be released, and clearly takes a lot of influence from many successful American movies in the same vein; but in it's own right, this is an extremely fun little romp that I'm sure wont be a disappointment to most people with an inclination to track it down. The plot is halfway between a zombie movie and a psycho slasher flick and focuses on a killer who a professor believes may have come back from the grave. Enter a bunch of kids who decide that it would be a good idea to read from a strange old book and resurrect the dead (to impress some girls, naturally). It's not long before the killer has come back as a zombie - bringing the rest of the cemetery with him and the dead have eating the kids' flesh on their minds. If you've seen more than a handful of zombie flicks, you'll have seen everything included in this film many times before. But that's not to say that Cemetery of Terror is not worth a look. Director Rubén Galindo Jr does an excellent job of creating a thoroughly fetid atmosphere to surround the cemetery at the centre of the film and there's a fair bit of gore included too, most of which is well done. Naturally the acting is nothing to write home about, but everyone approaches their roles with gusto and the film remains entertaining for the duration. Overall, this is not brilliant; but it's a more than worthy Mexican horror entry and I would say that it's worth seeing.

Forget all the commentaries trashing this movie. This here is a Mexican horror classic. Ask yourself this, how many terrible American horror movies are out there? Gimme a break. Mexican films usually have low budgets, don't go big time on the silver screen or gain huge notoriety around the world. Especially not in the horror genre. Name a Mexican horror film. Just one. Exactly. Horror films aren't meant to win Oscars unless it's intelligent like Rosemary's Baby. This is just a fun film to watch. C'mon, it's 80s horror! That means tight blue jeans, white sneakers, horny teens getting killed, silly hairdos and wardrobe! Sleepaway Camp is one of the champs in this area.

The plot is 3 college females are asked by their boyfriends to attend a flashy high profile party and they are tricked into going to an abandoned house on a cemetery on Halloween night. They find a book and decide to steal a corpse which happens to be of a demonic murderer who happens to be the owner of the book. They reanimate the corpse through a spell and all hell breaks loose.

This film has elements from Halloween:The demonic killer was attended to by the doctor which is after him and is rebellious towards cops and never fails to talk about how the killer is the devil and must be stopped. Very Mexican Halloween. It doesn't hurt that the movie is on Halloween as well. The only problem here is that Hugo Stiglitz should've been the demonic killer. Ha ha. I love Hugo Stiglitz, he's one of my favorites and has a hell of a voice and presence, but he's known to play villains not heroes. It has an Evil Dead element in that they find a book of dead just like the Necronomicon and wakes the demons in the cemetery. These are the 2 movies that the movie combines into a great formula.

The cast like any horror movie in any country isn't all that great.The teens cast in the movie are weak and may spoil some of the fun but Stiglitz is awesome as usual and whether it's a horror or comedy that he's in, he never fails to take his roles seriously. You should see Stiglitz doing comedy movie villains, his level of seriousness is rock solid and he takes this role just as serious. The killer isn't very scary, but the soundtrack is just sweet. It has one of the creepiest piano tunes in all of horror and I remember this movie by that eerie piano tune.

Check this movie out and watch it at night. It's only $7 at Best Buy and it comes with Ladrones de Tumbas (Graverobbers) as a two pack for a cheap price. You might or might not like it, but if you appreciate how the producer wants to entertain you with what he has to work with you won't be disappointed. The movie doesn't rip you off.

Hugo Stiglitz, probably best known to horror fans as the hero of Italian zombie flick Nightmare City, battles the undead once again in Cemetery of Terror, a low-budget Mexican mish-mash that borrows heavily from several successful US horror hits.

The film opens in Halloween mode, with lumbering serial killer Devlon gunned down by the police after a bloodthirsty rampage. The Evil Dead is the obvious inspiration for the introduction of a Satanic book that is discovered by a group of partying youths, whose idea of fun is to steal a body from the local morgue (no prizes for guessing whose corpse they make off with), and then perform a life-giving ritual during a rainstorm in a creepy cemetery.

With Devlon resurrected (I said there were no prizes!), the film enters Friday the 13th territory, with the dumb kids bumped off one by one by the undead killer. Last but not least, the film becomes a Night of the Living Dead-style fight for survival in a creepy run-down mansion, as a group of young trick or treaters are terrorised by zombies, brought back to life by Devlon's supernatural Satanic powers. Stiglitz plays the occult expert who holds the key to permanently putting Devlon to rest.

Cemetery of Terror is extremely dumb and utterly chaotic nonsense from start to finish, with not a lick of logic and unremarkable performances all round, but energetic direction from Rubén Galindo Jr. (who was also responsible for US-style slasher Don't Panic), lots of bargain basement zombies, and quite a fair bit of crude gore (a torn out throat, guts pulled out, an axe in the head) mean that there's still some fun to be derived from this random slice of South American schlock.

Fans of cheesy '80s horror will also enjoy the frequent appearances of the boom mic or its shadow, some nasty fashion (including a shiny, multi-coloured jacket with a skier printed on the back), an impressively staged zombie resurrection scene 'enhanced' by an excess of smoke and coloured lights, and one of those 'WTF?' final shots that were so prevalent among cheap horror films of the era.

The premise is tried and true. A group of young people break into an old and spooky abandoned house looking for nothing less than a good time. Just a night of booze, babes, boom box, and, of course, black magic. They, naturally, end up waking a dormant evil force which proceeds to terrorize and kill anyone drinking, fornicating, or trespassing in its lair.

Sound familiar yet? It should. It's been the plot to countless other horror films including Night of the Demons, The Evil Dead, and Hell Night. Now add Cemetery of Terror to the list.

I think this movie ranks up their with its contemporaries, though. It utilizes all the best techniques of a certified 80s horror gem. It's got plenty of blood and carnage, good plot, great atmosphere, and takes place on that wonderful horror movie time of the year: Halloween. The evil antagonist in this film is a superbly terrifying super-human Satanic slasher named Devlon who could easily give Michael Myers a run for his money. I don't recall Mikey selling his should to Satan, after all. And, as if Devlon wasn't enough for you, throw in a Necronomicon-type book which summons an army of zombies into the mix. Because what good is a spooky old cemetery in a horror film if you're not going to use it?

Made for Mexican audiences and filmed in Texas,this movie is definitely worth looking into if you are a fan of all-out 80s slasher gore fun. It effortlessly compares with a lot of great American horror trash cinema classics. So bring on the booze, babes, boom box, and black magic and let's party!

Cemetery of Terror (1985)

* (out of 4)

Incredibly stupid Mexican horror film that tries to capture the spirit of American slashers. A maniac who has killed 17 people gets killed by the police. The next day, Halloween of course, three couples go to a mansion to party. The girls won't put out so the guys have a black mass. This mass brings the killer back to life and he goes on a rampage. Oh yeah, at the end zombies show up. This thing turned deadly boring by the ten minute mark and the action didn't start till around the fifty-minute mark. Everything in this film was truly bad and the plot holes are just incredible. I'm not saying F13 was smart or anything but c'mon! This film rips part of the storyline to Halloween as well. The only saving grace are some wonderful special effects and the zombies look pretty good. This is on DVD with another Mexican film, GRAVE ROBBERS, but at the moment I'm too scared to watch it considering how bad this was.